While the oxidation of binders in hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavements and its subsequent detrimental effects on pavement life have been well recognized in the last few years, many important issues have not yet been investigated. Understanding how best to design mixtures taking this phenomenon into account and achieving maximum durability is an important and complex issue. This study was aimed at characterizing the effects of oxidative aging on durability in terms of mixture fatigue resistance of laboratory mixed-laboratory compacted (LMLC) samples. Direct tension tests were conducted on HMA samples to measure mixture stiffness and a Modified Calibrated Mechanistic with Surface Energy (CMSE*) analysis method was used to predict fatigue life. The effect of various mix design parameters was evaluated to understand their importance with respect to the aging phenomena and mixture fatigue resistance. Analysis of the results showed that aging has a significant negative effect on mixture fatigue resistance. Considerable increase in the stiffness modulus (Eve) of the mixtures was observed with age for all three mixtures analyzed. Air voids (AV) played a substantial role in affecting the fatigue resistance with aging, but a difference of 0.5% in binder content near the optimum level did not statistically change mixture durability in terms of fatigue resistance with aging. For the three mixtures in Texas included in this study, when comparing Eve, one month of artificial aging in the laboratory was equivalent to 10.5 months of natural aging in the field. A good correlation was also found between the Eve of the mixture and the Carbonyl Area (CA) and Dynamic Shear Rheometer (DSR) function of the extracted binder. Thus, a connection exists between the properties of the extracted binder, laboratory mixtures and field mixtures. This relationship will facilitate development of a more mechanistic aging component in pavement performance prediction models.

The primary objective of this thesis was to test the material properties of the new Grade 300, low-relaxation prestressing strand. The purpose of this testing was to verify the advertised breaking strengths and relaxation properties of the Grade 300 strand. Additional properties, such as yield strength, modulus of elasticity, and elongation, were also examined. Several tests were performed on each specific type of strand. For example, six tension and eight relaxation tests were performed on the Grade 300, 0.5 in. diameter, 0.153 square in. area strand. From the tests, it is concluded that the advertised breaking strengths and relaxation properties from Strand-Tech Martin, Inc. were accurate and meet the industry standards for low relaxation strand. The secondary objective of this project was to comment on the benefits of the Grade 300 strand as it pertains to the bridge industry. It was concluded from the tests that the Grade 300 strand had a 10 per cent larger 1 per cent elongation stress compared to the bridge industry standard Grade 270 strand. Furthermore, the amount of loss due to relaxation for the Grade 300 strand was comparative to that of the Grade 270 strand. While additional testing needs to be done to include stress-corrosion, transfer length, development length, and flexural strength, the completed testing indicates that less strand will be required using Grade 300 strand versus Grade 270 strand to achieve a set span length and transverse girder spacing. In addition, with the industry gradually progressing toward using higher strength concretes, longer span lengths and larger transverse girder spacing can be achieved by using the Grade 300 higher strength strand. The final objective of this testing was to examine the procedures and testing methods outlined by ASTM A416, Standard Specification for Steel Strand, Uncoated Seven-Wire for Prestressed Concrete (2005), ASTM E328, Standard Test Methods for Stress Relaxation for Materials and Structures (2002), and ASTM A370, Standard Test Methods and Definitions for Mechanical Testing of Steel Products (2005). The breaking strength and yield strength tables in ASTM A416 (2005) need to be updated with the new Grade 300 strand information. Based on this testing, ASTM should also remove the recommendation of simply using aluminum foil and Standard V-Grips to grip the strand. Even though the standard Grade 270 and Grade 300 regular diameter strand met the material property requirements when using aluminum foil as a cushioning material, none of these samples broke clearly within the gage length of the strand. Furthermore, all of the super area strand samples failed prematurely at the grips due to the notching effect of the V-grip teeth. Thus, an alternative method involving aluminum tubing, aluminum oxide, and epoxy were used to create a cushioning device between the V-grip and the strand in order to achieve the true ultimate breaking stress of the strand. Finally, ASTM should comment on the impact of test length on the total relaxation measurements. Three test lengths were evaluated during the 26 relaxation tests. As the test length increased, the total measured relaxation decreased. Losses due to chuck slip and frame settlement were negligible as the strand test length increased. / Master of Science

The first objective of this thesis was to determine the material properties of grade 270 and grade 300 prestressing strand of various sizes. Tension tests were performed on each type of strand. The data from these tests was used to determine modulus of elasticity, yield stress, ultimate stress, and ultimate elongation for each strand. The yield stresses and ultimate stresses for many of the strands did not meet the requirements found in ASTM A416. The ultimate elongation results far exceeded the requirements and the measured elastic moduli were near the modulus recommended by AASHTO LRFD. A secondary objective from the tension tests was to evaluate a gripping method which used aluminum tubing to cushion the strands against notching. The grips performed very well. Most of the strand breaks did not occur in the grips and when a strand did break in the grips, the failure occurred after significant post-yield elongation. The second objective was to evaluate the bond properties of grade 270 and grade 300 prestressing strands. The North American Strand Producers (NASP) Bond Test and Large Block Pullout Test (LBPT) were performed on six different strand grade and strand size combinations. Both of the tests are simple pullout tests on untensioned strand. The results for each strand type were compared to one another as well as to measured transfer and development lengths from beams using the strand from the same reel. All of the strands showed sufficient bond in the beams, but one strand type did fail both the NASP Test and the LBPT. Both pullout tests were acceptable methods to evaluate strand surface condition and the benchmarks set for 0.5 in. diameter regular strand were conservative for the strands used in this thesis. Little difference was evident in the bond performance of grade 270 and grade 300 prestressing strand. / Master of Science

Tato práce je zaměřena na problematiku výpočtového a experimentálního modelování deformačně napjatostních stavů měkkých tkání se zaměřením na riziko ruptury u výdutě břišní aorty (AAA). V první části (kap. 1) je stručně nastíněn současný stav dané problematiky. Tato část shrnuje důležité poznatky publikované v dostupné literatuře. Pozornost je věnována zejména klíčovým faktorům pro stanovení rizika ruptury AAA. V další kapitole (kap. 2) je stručně popsána histologie cévní stěny a její výsledné mechanické chování, jakož i její patologie, především AAA. Druhá část práce (kap.3) je věnována experimentálnímu vyhodnocování deformačně napjatostního chování měkkých tkání, které je nutným předpokladem k věrohodnému výpočtovému modelování tohoto chování. V této kapitole je stručně popsáno experimentální zařízení speciálně vyvinuté pro testování měkkých tkání a typy zkoušek, které lze na tomto zařízení provádět. Dále jsou shrnuty klíčové faktory ovlivňující deformačně napjatostní chování měkkých tkání a experimentální ověření těchto faktorů na vzorcích z prasečích hrudních aort. V závěru této kapitoly jsou shrnuty nové poznatky vyplývající z experimentálního testování. Třetí část disertační práce (kap.4) je zaměřena na matematický popis deformačně napjatostního chování měkkých tkání, stručný popis používaných konstitutivních vztahu a postup při identifikaci parametrů pro tyto konstitutivní modely určované na základě provedených experimentálních zkoušek. Poslední část disertační práce (kap.5) je věnována výpočtovému modelování deformačně napjatostního chování AAA. V této kapitole jsou nejdříve shrnuty klíčové faktory a předpoklady pro vytváření modelů a pro vyhodnocování výsledku a dále jsou uvedeny materiálové parametry pro konstitutivní modely implementované do programu ANSYS. Byly provedeny testovací výpočty při použití hypotetické zjednodušené geometrie AAA, na kterých byly vyhodnoceny vlivy změny geometrie a vliv změny konsitutivního modelu na extrémní napětí ve stěně AAA. U reálné geometrie AAA byla navržena a otestována metoda výpočtu nezatížené geometrie z reálných CT snímků. Dále byl testován vliv zvýšení vnitřního tlaku jako rizika ruptury AAA. V závěru práce jsou shrnuty poznatky a možnosti výpočtového modelování a návrhy na další práce.